Dana Nifosi (invited) is deputy chief counsel at the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), where she assists the Chief Counsel in advising agency leadership on legal matters involving authorization and appropriations, grants, procurement, planning, environmental review, emergency relief, safety, innovative finance, Buy America requirements, and litigation. She also serves as FTA’s ethics officer.

Before joining FTA, Dana was a partner and associate at Venable LLP, where she practiced in the firm’s Environmental and State and Local Government Practice Groups. She advised and represented state and local governments and private entities on infrastructure development, environmental and land use matters, telecommunications, project finance, and public-private partnerships. Her work included matters involving the National Environmental Policy Act and the development of airport, highway, transit, energy, and telecommunications facilities. Earlier in her career, she practiced at Cutler & Stanfield LLP, focusing on infrastructure development and environmental litigation.

Dana earned her JD from the George Washington University School of Law and her BA in international relations and history from Tufts University. Following law school, she received a fellowship from the Henry Luce Foundation to spend a year in Bangkok, Thailand, working on environmental issues.